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Newsletter
June
1999
Volume 2, Issue No. 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Report on AERA Annual Conference,
Montreal, April
19-23, 1999
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Social Justice Action Committee-Symposium
-
Peace Education SIG
Sessions
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Conflict
Resolution/Violence Prevention SIG Sessions
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Division
G - “Culture of Violence in Context”
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Peace
Education SIG and International Relations Interactive Symposium
Summer
Conference on Violence Prevention & Peacebuilding-August 13-15 Indiana University, Bloomington
New
SIG Formed: Spirituality and Education
Call for
Proposals - New Orleans in 2000
Call for Proposal Reviewers
Noteworthy New Publications
Online Resources for Peace Education/Peace
Studies
Report on AERA Annual Conference,
Montreal, April 19-23, 1999.
This will include Peace Education SIG and
Conflict Resolution/Cooperative Learning SIG Presentations at AERA - -
Aline Stomfay-Stitz
The annual conference of the American Educational Research Association
in Montreal reflected an impressive range of presentations on peace education,
peace studies, international education, human rights education, conflict
resolution/peer mediation, violence prevention, teaching nonviolence with
inclusion of related social justice issues. Since not all of our members
are able to travel to the annual conference, an overview of several sessions
and paper presentations that I attended is included.
(1) AERA Social Justice
Action Committee - Symposium
One of the largest gatherings centered on a
Symposium titled State of the Art for Social Justice: A Call for
All which was chaired by AERA President, Alan Schoenfeld with Gwendolyn
Baker, recently named Special Advisor to the President. An outgrowth
of the Social Justice Advisory Committee that has met for the past several
years, the issues of “minority scholars . . . in education and in research”
was undertaken in order to improve minority membership and participation
in AERA, SIGS. Presently within AERA 21% of the membership is identified
as minority.
In addition, the role and status of women within AERA was a related
concern. At AERA conferences, 54% of the participants are women,
with a lower number as presenters. Raising awareness of the roles
of women within AERA would include equity in research and publication.
James Banks, Edmund Gordon and Margaret Gallego spoke on related
themes: greater hospitality shown to women and minorities with enhanced
liaison with SIGs and other groups; the presence of an ombudsman/advocate
for the interests of those who have been underrepresented. James
Banks stressed that “changes of behavior” needed to come about and that
this “area of change and social justice” now moved “to the center of the
table.”
The Task Force on the Role and Future of Minorities of AERA presented
their final report, you may recall, in the April 1997 issue of the
Educational
Researcher (pp. 44-52). Comments from colleagues seated near
me, seemed to indicate that this session , along with implications for
the future of AERA were received in a positive light, as perhaps long overdue
and a vital area to be addressed because of rapidly changing demographics
in school and community.
Note: The complete 1999 Annual Meeting Program is online at:
http://aera.net/meeting. Choose the first link - “1999 Annual Meeting
Program.”
(2) AERA Peace Education
SIG Sessions
Paper presentations centered around the topic: Critical
Issues in Peace Education. Neil Houser, University of Oklahoma presented
his paper “Reconciling an Ethic of Care and a Language of Critique for
Equity Education in an Early Elementary Classroom Setting.” Adam Gibbons,
a graduate student at the University of British Columbia presented his
paper “Education, Peace and Violence in Northern Ireland: The ‘Troubles’
in the Curriculum” based on his first-hand experiences there. Edyth
J. Wheeler, Towson University, shared her early childhood research in “Hearing
Children’s Voices: Preschoolers’ Understanding of Conflict Resolution
in a Culture of Caring” and Dan Kmitta, Miami University of Ohio
shared updated results of “The Comprehensive Findings of CPMEP (Conflict
and Peer Mediation in Education Program) undertaken in Ohio schools.
Roundtables explored several facets of peace education:
Alia Said Sheety, Arizona State University, presented her paper “Curriculum
and Peace in the Middle East” describing how Arabic literature textbooks
delineated topics such as land, enemy, and hero in the era of peace.
Textbooks generally ignored the peace process topic and were still concerned
with hostility toward the enemy. Her final analysis was described
as “not very encouraging” because students were receiving values that are
still “far from preparing them to accept the new Middle East.”
Alan McCully, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, presented his research
on “Teaching Controversial Issues as Part of the Peace Process in Northern
Ireland.” His research underscored the intense difficulty of addressing
conflict situations where highly-charged emotions may be the result of
personal loss of a friend or family member. He pointed to research
in emotional intelligence (Daniel Goleman) as increasing the potential for
critical reasoning, if emotion can be utilized in a positive manner. (3) AERA Conflict Resolution/Violence Prevention SIG Sessions
David and Roger Johnson, professors at the University
of Minnesota, Chairs of the Conflict Resolution/Violence Prevention SIG,
along with Laurie Stevahn, University of Minnesota, Chair of the Cooperative
Learning SIG presented papers representing various perspectives of school
violence and conflict resolution in several sessions. In addition,
Division G had a session of papers presented on the topic “The Culture
of Violence: Implications for Schooling.”
All of these sessions were well-attended . Because
of the Littleton, Colorado school tragedy that occurred during the annual
conference, most sessions made reference to the importance of exploring
all sides of the issues with violence prevention, gun control, and teaching
conflict resolution/peacemaking skills of vital importance for future
school safety. A session that included two SIGs- Cooperative
Learning and Conflict Resolution/Violence Prevention included several papers:
(A) “The Morphology of School Violence” by Irene MacDonald, University
of Calgary (imacdona@acs.ucalgary.ca) reflected the research undertaken
in a doctoral dissertation (1998) by the author. Important questions
were raised about including “a climate of caring that nourishes positive
relationships.” The presenter stressed that violence prevention programs
are important but should also “be positioned as a study of schooling, of
intergenerational tensions, societal values, and human relationships.”
(B) A paper, “Ask, Listen and Act: Responding to the Impact of
Violence on Girls” was presented by Faedra Weiss and Heather J. Nicholson,
Girls Incorporated, Indianapolis. As a national organization serving
young women ages 6 through 18, the researchers’ goal was to fill in the
gap of research on violence that centers only on boys. A study and
publication was created by the organization, titled Responding to the Impact
of Violence on Girls: A Community Needs Assessment for Girls Incorporated
Affiliates. (www.girlsinc.org). The presenters’ research built on
this study that discovered that “Girls are much more aware of violence
in their schools and communities than adults realize. By 3rd grade, girls
can identify times and places in school where bullying, harassment and
fights are common.”
(C) Researchers Christine E. Daley, Muscogee County School District,
Georgia
and Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie, Valdosta State University, Georgia presented
their paper on “Boys will be Boys? A Comparison of Attributions for
Violence Between Male and Female High School Students.” Research
centered on the area of social cognition, including attribution theory
“as a viable avenue for research on the antecedents of violent behavior.”
This is “socially defined” as the “meaning. ..and cognitive processes underlying
an individual’s causal inferences” for events within their “physical and
social environment.” The youth surveyed made “attributional errors when
evaluating the behavior of others, by ascribing external explanations to
individuals’ violent actions.”
(D) Candice C. Carter, (ccarter@unf.edu), University of
North Florida, presented her research on “Conflict Mediation at School:
Peace through Avoidance?” Based on research with middle school students’conflict mediation for her doctoral dissertation (1998), she highlighted
pervasive communication gaps as a result of the resolutions chosen for
their conflicts. Students avoided “social cooperation” and clearly
“did not address the social problems that created the conflicts.” As a
result, she discerned, the “students’ common avoidance resolutions were
reproductive of existing social problems and had the potential for conflict
recurrence and violence.”
(E) William T. Smale and Jose L. da Costa, (wsmale@ualberta.ca
and jose.da.costa@ualberta.ca) shared their research on “Understanding
the Issue of Dropouts: Young Offender Perspective.” Their paper
was the focus of a study group of young male teens in a Canadian Young
Offender institution. The problem of early school leaving (dropouts)
from a young offender perspective was explored to fill a perceived gap
in study of this target group. Among the many indicators for delinquent
activities were early evidence of childhood behavior problems, marital
discord, child abuse and neglect- all family background factors that contributed
to their dropping out of school. Their research included approximately
180 citations in a review of the research.
(F) Laurie Stevahn, Professional Development Associates, Minneapolis;
Linda Munger, Munger Consulting Services, and Kathy Kealey, Dorval, Quebec
presented their paper on the “First-year Effects of Teaching All Students
Conflict Resolution in a French Immersion Elementary School.”
The study reflected the whole-school conflict resolution training program
developed by David and Roger Johnson - Teaching Students to be Peacemakers(1995).
The effectiveness of this training in a bilingual setting (1997-1999) included
extensive quantitative analyses of teachers’ responses and classroom implementation
scores. Conclusions reached were that all teachers and all students
in a school should receive training in “how to manage conflicts constructively”
and especially for “all teachers to incorporate training into their classrooms.”
The levels of teacher implementation of the training in the classroom was
of greatest interest. The highest level of classroom implementation
was from the teachers who were themselves “members of the conflict resolution
and safety committees” (in both French and English) who shared their strategies
for using their conflict training in their own classrooms. (4)
AERA Division G - “The Culture of Violence in Context: Implications
for Schooling
(A) Frances Vavrus and KimMarie Cole, University of Wisconsin-Madison
presented their research on “The Sociocultural Context of School Suspension.”
Their case study of two high school science classes analyzed the disruptions
and subsequent suspensions. As a result, they concluded that the
suspensions were “often linked to students’ challenging subject matter
boundaries.” In addition, the frequent questions of students’ ‘talk’
were sometimes perceived as “grounds for suspension.” Conclusions
were that schools need to reframe their “suspensions within school violence
discourses” because the disruptions were not isolated events ”but rather
complex sociocultural constructions.”
(B) Devin G. Thornburg, Adelphi University and John Broughton,
Teachers College, Columbia University presented their paper titled “Violence
in Context: Personal Identify and Cultural Mediation.” Interviews
were carried out at several sites in New York City, including schools that
had installed scanners and metal detectors, as one method to combat
school violence. One interesting observation by the researchers was
that the frequently used “at risk” category/label commonly used by schools
may “actually support thinking about violence in a broader way.” They asked
the provocative questions: “Are children who are at risk similar
in their rejection of the values and functions of schools? Is violent behavior
only one of several forms that this rejection might take?” Their
ethnographic research has many implications for school policymakers.
(C) Annette Hemmings, (annette.hemmings@uc.edu) University of Cincinnati,
presented her paper on “Post-oppositional Identity Work among Urban High
School Students.” The research had a focus on the “politics of resistance”
of this group studied that “led to breakages with the worlds of their families,
churches, schools and peers.” Her research was a close study of an
African American youth, Lona and her friends whose lives were marked by
the politics of resistance “in order to protect what they regarded as their
‘true’ selves.” Through Lona, who functioned as a group “counselor” her
dialogue helped members to form “social linkages” and “forms of reconciliation”
that eventually empowered them “to take advantage of educational and other
opportunities. (5) Peace Education SIG Session-Interactive Symposium - Joint Session with
the International Relations Committee
The SIG had a Joint Session, an Interactive
Symposium with the International Relations Committee which was well-attended
by participants from several nations. The topic was: Common
Pathways to Peace through Education and International Relations with Aline
Stomfay-Stitz as Discussant and Panel Moderator. The following were
participants: Harriet Field, early childhood education professor,
Mount Saint Vincent’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, active in the Canadian
Peace Research and Education Association; Magnus Haavelsrud, professor,
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway and the
second executive secretary of the Peace Education Commission, International
Peace Research Association; Kathleen Modrowski, Director of the Friends
World Program at Long Island University, consultant to a human rights education
project in Mali, one of the poorest countries in Africa; Gavriel Salomon,
former dean, faculty of education at Haifa University, Israel, one of the
founders of the Center for the Study of Peace Education at Haifa University;
and Alan Smith, professor of education at the University of Ulster,
North Ireland, researcher on the integrated schools attended by Catholic
and Protestant children.
The presentations confirmed that peace education
and peace research are multidisciplinary with a strong social science tradition.
Harriet Field shared news of the successful launching in Canada
of the League of Peaceful Schools in Nova Scotia, including one hundred
schools participating during the first year. Of greatest interest
was that funding was provided by the government of Nova Scotia with training
in conflict resolution/peacemaking skills carried out by the Lester B.
Pearson Canadian International Peacekeeping Centre.
Magnus Haavelsrud centered his research on the peace structure
or building blocks and foundation of a system. He reminded
us that interaction and integration, especially of the human elements are
vital to the process such as “the attitudes, opinions, and values of the
people.” He instilled a sense of promise and hope stressing that
the structure of non-peace can be changed through positive, human interactions,
especially by teaching peacemaking skills.
Kathleen Modrowski based her presentation on her work in Mali
with an international NGO, the Peoples’ Decade of Human Rights Education.
Her experiences convinced her that human rights education deserves an equal
place alongside education for peace, for it is within this framework that
the causes of violence are revealed. After traveling to Mali several
times in the past few years, she observed that in spite of the war’s end,
the schools still resembled those of the colonial period. For this reason,
she believes that human rights education should be viewed as a way of raising
the moral and ethical levels of education - as basis component in human
rights education.
Alan Smith reflected on the past thirty years of violence with
schools and youth in Northern Ireland where students have been segregated
according to religion and gender. He has written extensively about
integrated schools and was even the founder of one in Ulster. He
believes that it is through social interactions that these divided groups
of children can eventually view themselves as fellow human by sharing their
common roots in humanity. His research centered on the extent to
which teachers were using the peace education initiatives launched in recent
years. He had sad results to report: While teachers had materials
and even training, less than one-third felt comfortable teaching controversial
issues such as resolving conflicts using a peace education approach.
Teacher resistance in Northern Ireland (as well in other nations) should
be recognized as a major problem. Empowering teachers may only come
about through grassroots efforts- which is in sharp contrast to the fact
that many peacemaking/conflict resolution programs come about as a top-down
mandate from school administration.
Gavriel Salomon raised provocative questions for researchers:
Where is our concern for the validation of our peace education research?
Where are the researchers who are committed to the creation of a record
of achievement? He issued a call to action so that research can be closely
linked to careful measurement of outcomes. He sounded a warning:
If peace education is to be taken seriously as a valid area for academic
study, the conditions outlined such as outcomes that are durable and generalizable
must be included..
Announcement
of Summer Conference on Violence Prevention and Peacebuilding, August
13-15, 1999 - Bloomington, Indiana
The School of Education at Indiana University
along with sponsorships from several educational associations (National
Association of School Psychologists, Indiana Dept. of Education Office
of Student Services, among others) has planned a conference from Friday,
August 13 through Sunday, August 15 in Bloomington.
Keynote speakers include Arun Gandhi, Director
of the Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence in Memphis; Ian Harris,
Executive Secretary of the Peace Education Commission of the International
Peace Research Association, also a Peace Education SIG member and former
SIG Chair; Betty Reardon, pioneer peace educator and author of landmark
publications on peace education; and His Holiness, the Dalai Lama of
Tibet. Sessions will include workshops, panel discussions and screening
of video resources at a Peace Education and Violence Prevention Fair.
Conference fee is $125 and registration can be sent to: Violence
Prevention Conference, 4009D Wright Education Bldg., 201 North Rose Ave.,
Bloomington, IN 47405-1006. Contact person is: Katrina Daytner, Information
Coordinator at (801) 856-83134, ext. 36220. E-mail: kgilling@indiana.edu
New
SIG Formed: Spirituality and Education
At the Annual Conference, information was distributed concerning a new
SIG that may be of interest: Spirituality and Education. The goals
include: (1) Identifying assumptions and principles of education
that are consistent with a variety of spiritual traditions; (2) Translating
those principles into recommendations and guiding principles for practitioners
in a variety of educational settings, and disseminating our findings; (3)
Integrating a variety of perspectives by collaboration among professions,
spiritual traditions and backgrounds. For further information, please
contact: Dr. Bob London, California State University, San Bernardino,
School of Education, San Bernardino, CA 92407;
e-mail: rlondon@csusb.edu
Call
for Proposals - New Orleans in 2000
The next annual conference for the year 2000 will be held in New Orleans
from April 24-28, 2000, where we are hoping the Peace Education SIG will
have expanded space for individual paper presentations, Roundtables, and
Joint Sessions with several other SIGs. The Call for Proposals appeared
in the May issue of the AERA journal, Educational Researcher (Vol. 28,
No. 4). Sessions for presentations by the Peace Education SIG will
be determined by the number of members who have joined by JUNE 21, 1999,
OUR DEADLINE.
The good news is that the SIG had an 80% rate of proposal acceptances.
An Electronic Submission process will be used once again by the SIG. (We
were “cyberspace pioneers “ last year.) The DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS IS AUGUST
2, 1999.
For further information, please contact by e-mail: hinitz@tcnj.edu
(Blythe Hinitz, Co-Chair, Peace Education SIG and Program Chair, 2000.
Call for Proposal
Reviewers
Please volunteer to review proposals.
They will be sent to you with sufficient time for your review. Please send
an e-mail to: hinitz@tcnj.edu. This is a valuable way to contribute to
our Peace Education SIG.
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